Once Upon A Hack
by Castianna
Summary: one brilliant but random hacker, one icey CEO, and a hostess at a restaurant...add the geek squad...and you get one hell of a story. Rated M for content. joeyxmai setoxoc bakuraxoc tristanxserenity yugixtea
1. Chapter 1

**Once Upon A Hack...**

**By:**_ Castianna_

_Chapter 1_

It was another boring Monday at Smitty's. Ashley was doing everything in her power to stay awake. She almost dozed off when the door chime went off signalling the entrance of a costumer. Ashley looked up into violet eyes that held an expression of sadness and evil, as if his soul had been tortured.

"Oh, hello." Ashley greeted.

"Table for two please." Violet eyes said.

"Umm, Ok right this way please."

Ashley grabbed two menus from the stand and led them to a table on the far side of the restaurant from the door. Ashley handed them their menus and took her chance to study these two fine examples of men.

Violet eyes was accompanied by a pale looking young man with white hair, if it weren't for the brown eyes she would have mistaken him for an albino. His eyes held traces of boredom and sheer evil. 'Most likely got his fun from others pain and suffering…' Ashley shuddered at the thought. Violet eyes had longish blonde hair and was very tanned, he looked like a surfer dude from LA, of course the gold jewelry didn't quiet fit with the look. These men were so hot Ashleys cheeks were flaming just by talking to them.

"So, what can I get you to drink?" Ashley asked.

"I will have an ice water, lots of ice, very little water." Violet eyes said.

"I shall have…A tea. Yes, earl grey if you have it." Brown eyes said.

Ashley almost had to fan herself, He was British!!! OMG He was British! Ashley mentally calmed herself and went to get their drinks and inform the server she had a new table.

She was just setting down their drinks when the door chimed again.

"Really Malik, This ice fascination is quiet abnormal. Why cant you have a normal fetish….like…"

Ashley didn't get to hear the rest of the conversation because she looked up to see who had walked in to the restaurant, There stood Rachel smiling at the front desk with her lap top bag slung over her shoulder. Ashley smiled and walked forward to greet her friend. She showed Rachel to a table near the front of the restaurant and sat down with her. The front was the only place in the whole building where the wireless internet got the best service.

"Who are you hacking today?" Ashley asked.

"Hmm I'm not sure, possibly Kaiba corp. That's always fun."

Ashley smirked, well have fun with that. Then she left to get Rae her coffee. It was a well known fact that hackers needed their caffine. As Ashley approached Rae with he coffee, she could hear the keys of her keyboard tapping furiously. So she just set down the coffee and went back about her business.

Ashley's shift was almost over when the door chimed again. Ashley looked up and counted them. 'Four, not bad…' She approached them.

"Hi," She greeted them.

"Table for six please." A short kid with spikey tri-colored hair said. Ashley knew him instantly.

"OMG your Yugi Mouto!" She almost gasped. "You're the kid who beat Seto Kaiba right out of his title!"

"Yugi's not a kid, He's sixteen!" The blonde guy said from the door.

"I know you, Your Joey Wheeler!" Ashley glomped him. "I'm like, totally a fan! I watched all your battles at duelist kingdom!" Ashley said excitedly.

Joey was instantly ten feet tall and bullet proof. Ashley led them to a table that was large enough for their group and went to get them their drinks. The door chimed again, followed by a ruckus out front. Ashley appeared out front to see a smug Seto Kaiba glareing at Joey, who was being held back by Tristan. Oh Ashley knew who Mr. High and Mighty was alright and she decided to kick him out of the restaurant.

"If you cant behave, I'm afraid I must ask you to leave." Ashley said politely.

Kaiba glanced over at Ashley, A look crossed his face before turning back to Joey.

"Listen to the girl Wheeler, and leave."

"Actually I was talking to you, your majesty." She said sarcasticly.

Seto turned his glare on Ashley.

"You have no right…." He said through clenched teeth.

"Oh yes I do actually. I am the hostess here, these are my costumers and you are bothering them…..sir" The sir dripped with venom. "So leave the building….now…" She said.

Kaiba smirked. "Don't you have a no dog policy."

"Yes we do…So leave, before I call the pound." Ashley smirked back. Finally thinking she had put him in his place.

Rachel watched on in amusement…'Excellent, She is over her…Obsession…' She thought.

Seto threw one last glare at the geek squad and pulled Ashley outside.

"You really hate me…don't you." He said quietly once they reached the sidewalk.

"There is nothing else to feel….you killed all that." Ashley said sadly, looking away.

"I.." Seto looked at Ashley…'What had he done..' he frowned. "What did I do to deserve this treatment from you? I L.." SLAP! Ashley stormed back into Smitty's, leaving Seto out front with a red mark on his face. Seto walked over to his Ferrari and jumped in, speeding off towards his hotel.

Ashley cried mentally but knew she had to be cruel to him. He hadn't come for her. He had followed Yugi for a rematch. But why was Yugi here in Calgary? Ashley was very confused.

Rachel sighed and sat up from her laptop. "Done.." She said and stretched. She had just hacked Kaiba corp. while its CEO had his attention elsewhere.. She had just implanted a very destructive virus in the Kaiba corp. mainframe.

Kaiba was speeding down Deerfoot trail and looking over at his mini computer in his car. Yes I know that is very unsafe….especially on the deerfoot…he was just checking through the shipping and receiving stats when he found it….a virus….a virus in the form of pink fuzzy bunnies was eating away at his mainframe from the outer shell to the inner pieces…He hit a few buttons and traced the virus back to its origination, a laptop at the smittys location he was just at. He mad a few rather dangerous changes of direction and sped back to the smittys. When Kaiba arrived back at smittys he took Ashley took Ashley off guard. He went around the restaurant looking for someone on a laptop. He was ignoring everyone else. He was just checking the front tables when he found her.

Rachel looked up at the intruder, then looked at her watch. "15 minutes and 12 seconds." She said.

"Excuse me?"

"Do you have bad hearing?"

"No, but what do you mean by 15 minutes and 12 seconds?" He asked.

"How long it took your little min to find the hacker…really Kaiba, you should make it an actual challenge to hack your mainframe."

Kaiba was speechless for the first time in a decade.

"Though, I must commend you, it's a better response time than the CIA." Rachel said with the wisdom of someone who had been down that path before.

Kaiba just looked at her. Then he sat down. "Well, Can I have the anti-virus?" He asked.

"No."

"And why not?"

"Because I don't like mutts." The edge of Rachel's mouth twitched up in a half smile.

"I don't either. So lets stop talking about wheeler and tell me why I cant have the anti-virus." He smirked as he heard wheeler jump up in the back ground and yell at him. Chairs scraped and Tristan must have pulled Joey back because he didn't come running over.

"God, your dense." Rachel looked at her watch again. Four o'clock. Ashley would be off work soon. She closed her laptop and left Kaiba sitting at the table.

After she left he made to go after her, but then something caught his eye. There was a disk on the table alongside a note. You may have this disk, But can you be sure that It is the anti-virus you seek?

While Rachel and Kaiba had been talking Mai had confronted Ashley about her….interest….in Joey. Ashley quickly told Mai that she didn't like Joey…that she was in love with someone else…

"Oh? Who?" Mai asked.

Ashley looked around then leaned closer to Mai, "Seto Kaiba…" She whispered. Mai's eyes opened in surprise.

Unbeknownst to Ashley, Seto had overheard the conversation with her and Mai. Seto leaned back in his seat as Ashley ran out to meet Rachel outside. "Hmm there is hope for us yet….my love…" He said to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Once Upon A Hack…**

**Chapter 2**

**By**_Castianna_

_A.N. I realised that I do not have a disclaimer yet, so here it is…I do not own yugioh….alas I own nothing…..yet….lol enjoy the chappie…. Hope you enjoyed the first one as well._

Ashley and Rachel spent the whole day packing to go camping. They planned to be away from the city this weekend….very far from the city…They were taking their laptops and Ashley's new high-tech internet signal dish, They would be able to pick up internet way up in the mountains at the campsite.

They were on their way out of town and were both cheerfully typing away on their laptops while Ashley's dad drove the van, Ashley's mom read a book quietly and Ashley's two siblings and the friends they brought along argued over candy in the back seat. Yes the van was rather cramped but it would be a good weekend.

When camp was set up and everyone went about doing their own thing, Ashley and Rachel set up their laptops and the portable signal dish up at the picnic table and began their…'fun..' Hacking random unsuspecting companies and international organisations. Ashley was typing in random codes and other things in the Calgary Games Corp. mainframe when she found a file for Kaiba corp. Calgary Games was just a smaller company owned by the Tokyo based gaming giant and multi billionaire teenager. Ashley gritted her teeth and muttered a few choice words under her breath.

Rachel looked up. "What was that?" She asked.

"Oh, Nothing…" Why did he always have to pop up whenever Ashley didn't want him to….then an idea hit her… "Muahahaha…." She laughed.

Rae looked up again.

"What?"

"The Kaiba Corp. mainframe…" Ashley smirked.

"What about it?" Rae asked.

"I'm going to destroy it…"

"That place isn't even a challenge…" Rae yawned..Then she smirked. "Excellent my padwan, your powers are growing…I have taught you well." They both started laughing over the star wars reference and then set back to their mischief.

No sooner than Ashley started typing did they hear a helicopter in the distance. Ashley typed faster. She was so busy typing that she didn't notice Rachel trying to tell her to cut it…nor did she notice the Kaiba corp. helicopter landing or the young CEO standing right behind her.

"Don't press that..That is a specially designed button to trap hackers, What you want to do is this." Two arms reached around Ashley and began typing away furiously at the keyboard. Within two seconds flat she was granted access to the Kaiba corp. mainframe and in another two seconds she was logged off her computer completely and sitting at the welcome screen.

"Good…No?" He asked.

Ashley turned around and glared into two piercing blue eyes.

"Uh, Hi Seto…" She mumbled.

"Ya, Hi, why where you trying to hack my mainframe?" Seto said slowly, leading her away from the campsite so they could talk privately.

"No reason, really, I was just bored."

"Interesting, Well that is not the only reason why I am here. When I found out it was your computer doing the hacking, I called off the security team and came myself."

"Why, though, If you don't want to be near me." She said sadly.

"I never said that." He said and stopped walking. They were in a small clearing not to far from the campsites."

"Huh?" Ashley was confused.

"I didn't want you to go, But you never gave me the chance to say anything, To get you to stay." Seto looked into Ashley's eyes. "Can you please tell me everything I did wrong so I can fix it?" Seto pleaded.

Ashley looked away. "You drifted away from me, in your obsession to beat Yugi. And during duelist kingdom… I know you had to find Mokie … but you could have asked for my help. I wanted to help you. Instead you closed up and the Seto I had known for all those months was gone. What happened? Was it just losing your title or did something else happen to you? You just shut your self off from me and Mokuba." Ashley looked him in the eyes. "your obsession broke my heart Seto."

He reached for her and pulled her into his embrace.

"I'm sorry…can you forgive me?" Seto asked.

A pair of violet eyes stared sadly from the darkness. (a/n CREEPER!!!!!)

"No." He whispered.

He turned away and anger overtook him. He walked into the clearing and grabbed Ashley from Seto's arms.

"SETO!!..." She screamed before the millennium rod rendered her immobile.

"Ashley!!" Seto called into the darkness around him… 'How long have we been in this clearing?' he thought. 'I don't remember it getting it dark.'

Rachel had ignored Kiaba's presence and continued hacking a random top secret main frame. That is until the sky got darker and she was no longer alone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Once Upon A Hack**

**Chapter 3**

**By**_** Castianna**_

"Hello, What have we here?" A british voice said as two hands settled on Rachels shoulders. Rachel looked up into chocolate brown eyes containing interest and a hint of evilness. "Who are you?" Rachel said indifferently.

"I am the thief king Bakura and I demand you tell me what it is you are doing here!" he said.

"Hmm. Im hacking." She shrugged him off and went about her work. Bakura grabbed her and turned her away from her laptop.

"What is hacking?" he asked.

"God your dense!" She said impatiently.

"Well what is it?" He asked again, A little annoyed that this pathetic mortal has having trouble grasping the concept. Rae sighed.

"Modern thievery. Very sneaky and hard to get caught." She mumbled and turned back to her laptop.

"Thievery huh? Excellent. I excel at thievery, teach me all!" He said with happily.

Rae was immersed in teaching the thief king all when she heard a scream followed by a yell. Sighing she got up from her laptop and went to the location of the noise. Intending on telling them to keep it down that people were trying to concentrate. When she got to the clearing she saw Kaiba heading into the bushes. Sighing she decided to follow him. "Wow it sure got dark in a hurry." She mumbled.

"Whats going on?" She asked Kaiba as she caught up with him. "Wheres my friend and how the hell did you make the sky go dark?" Rachel had just said something completely blonde.

Seto looked at her. "I didn't do anything to her, She was snatched by someone…. And your such a moron. The sun set. Baka!"

Malik was dragging Ashley through the trees. "Do you even know where your going?" She asked.

"Yes." He said

SPLASH!

"Sure, and you didn't know there was a creek here??" She asked sarcasticly.

"I knew it was here." He grumbled as he stepped onto the rocky shore.

"You are a bumbling idiot, You cant even kidnap someone properly. Now Im going to freeze to death!" She yelled at him.

Kaiba, followed by Rachel, followed by a rather confused Bakura stumbled onto the beach behind them. Seto saw Ashley soaking wet and shivering, yelling at her kidnapper about the proper ways to kidnap someone… Odd. Shaking his head he walked over and placed his trench coat around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. Effectivly shutting her up. He looked down into her eyes, "Are you ok?" He asked.

"Ya Im fine." She said and snuggled into his warmth.

Bakura saw Malik and walked over to him. "So, you failed at kidnapping. Hmm. Cant have you fumbling the real deal later on. Come on, we'll have to learn the proper way now wont we." Bakura prattled on to Malik about kidnapping properly as they walked off. Malik stole one last look at Ashley before they disappeared in the darkness. Rachel glared at Kaiba, not liking the fact that he was holding Ashley a little to close.

"Ok I think something needs to be explained here!" She said.

"I don't need to explain myself to you." Seto said coldly. Ashley elbowed him.

"Seto and I have known each other for years. We met when we were little." Ashley started.

//////Flashback\\\\\\

A young girl with blonde pigtails wanders around a small playground alone in a residential area in Tokyo City. This is Ashley at 8 years old. Soon she is joined by a young boy with brown hair and blue eyes, and another younger boy with black hair and indigo eyes.

"Hi." Ashley says.

"Hello." The older boy says.

"Im Ashley, would you like to play with me?" She asked.

"Ok." He says.

"Well I need to know your names to play with you." She says, placing her hands on her hips like an adult would.

"Im Seto and this is my brother Mokuba." He says.

Soon an older woman walks over to the park. "Come on Ashley. We have to go now."

"Do you have to go?" Seto asks.

Ashley nods. "Ya, Im moving away. But maybe I will see you again someday Seto." She said and gave him a hug. Then she walked away with her mom. She turned back to wave.

"Wait!" Seto yells out. Ashley stopped and turned around. "Keep this." He says and hands her a small silver locket on a silver chain.

"Ok," Ashley whispers and gives him a little kiss on the cheek. "Good bye Seto." She says and leaves with her mom.

//////End\\\\\\

"I had been living in Tokyo at the time but my parents were moving back to North America. I thought I would never see them again, and I eventually forgot about them." Ashley paused and looked at Seto. "Then my parents decided to move back to Japan."

//////Flashback\\\\\\

"You don't even care how this will effect me! Well guess what… Im not going! Im not leaving!" Ashley yelled. She is now 15 and her parents are making her move again, and not just a simple move across the street like last summer. No they wanted her to move all the way to a place called Domino Japan!

"You will be leaving with this family at the end of the month and that is final!"

Ashley stormed out of the room and upstairs to her bedroom. And like she had done countless times before when she was upset, she closed her fist around the little silver locket that she always wore around her neck. She got comfort from it. She slept.

It was on her first day of school in her new home that things changed for her in Domino. Ashley was directed to a desk at the back of the class beside a young man with brown hair. He was sitting there reading a book, not really paying any attention to anything that was going on around him. When she sat down she began playing with her locket.

"Could you stop that." The boy said. "Its distracting and annoying." He sneered. Ashley let the necklace fall back to her neck and began doodling in her book.

Kaiba, the boy, looked over at Ashley. That necklace looked so familiar to him, but he needed a closer look to be sure.

The day went by in a flash for Ashley. Soon she was on her way home. She was almost there when a limo pulled up beside her.

"Get in." Kaiba growled and opened the door.

"Why?"

"I need to talk to you."

Ashley got in the limo and sat down opposite him. "Are you kidnapping me?" She asked.

"No I am not. I merely wish to know where you got that locket?"

"That is none of your business Mr. Kaiba."

"Oh I think you are wrong, I think it is my business." He smirked.

"What do you mean?"

Seto reached over and looked at the back of the locket, There engraved on the back was his mothers initials. His eyes widened.

"It cant be….where did you get this?" He asked, looking her directly in the eyes.

"A friend gave it to me before I moved to Canada." She said quietly.

"A friend?"

"Yes, A friend. His name was Seto, Mr Kaiba. And I would really like to go home now, please." Ashley said.

"Ashley, how come you seem so sad to be back, when you never wanted to leave in the first place?" He asked.

"I…my best friend is back in Canada. I had to leave her behind." Ashley whispered.

"Hmm, well thank you for keeping my locket."

"Huh? What?" Ashley was stunned.

"If Im not mistaken I gave this to you before you left."

Ashley stared at him. "You… your Seto?!" she asked in surprise.

"You mean to tell me you sat beside me all day and you didn't know my name?" He asked with a laugh. Ashley nodded.

They were soon engaged in conversation catching up and making up for lost time.

"You became famous after I left." She commented.

"Ya I guess I did." He smiled.

"The only thing is, I heard that the CEO of Kaiba corp could be compared to a living breathing block of ice." She said.

"Ya, don't give away my secret, My rep would be down the drain." He laughed. "So what do you say to renewing our friendship?" He asked. "A movie… or buy the whole theatre perhaps?"

"I hope that was sarcasticly said?"

"No, I was completely serious."

"But you couldn't possibly."

"Actually yes I could."

"Oh." And both teens began to laugh.

//////End\\\\\\

"How come you never told me any of this?"

"Well when I came back here the second time, Seto and I had gone through a really chaotic breakup and I wanted to keep him in the past.

"So how come you broke up?"

Seto looked a little sheepish and Ashley told the story.

//////Flashback\\\\\\

"Seto I cant believe you, You lose once to Yugi and you shut yourself off to everyone? I don't get it! It was just a game! Your acting like a spoiled little kid who isn't getting everything he wants!" Ashley yelled at him. Seto walked past her, brushing her off.

He walked to his office and slammed the door in her face, locking it to keep her outside. Ashley banged on the door and continued to yell at him for 30 mins. Finally she gave up. Leaving the hall she went to her room at the mansion and packed her things. Then she left a note for Seto and left to join her parents back in Calgary. They had moved back there but Ashley had stayed at the Kaiba mansion. "Well no reason to kick around here anymore." She mumbled and walked out the front door.

//////End\\\\\\

"I can still repeat the words in your letter, I read it so many times." Seto said quietly. "' Im leaving, Im going back to Canada. Im going for good. I don't think I can stay here with you anymore. Come and find me when you decide to grow up, come and find me when you can handle the fact that Yugi beat you. Its just a game Seto. Just a stupid little game. So when you can grasp the fact that you cant always win, look me up. I cant promise I will wait for you… but just take some advise from me. Grow up before its to late. Good bye.'"

Ashley looked at Seto, tears shinning in her eyes. "He did phone me once, and I almost went back to him. But then he pulled that stupid stunt at Duelest Kingdom and forced Yugi to give up the duel. That was very stupid of you."

"Can I explain the logic behind that stunt?"

"It doesn't matter now."

Seto nodded.

"Ok, well I hate to break you two up, but we should head back to camp, its just way to dark out here."

The three of them went back to camp where Ashleys family was back and making smores at the fire. Ashley and Seto sat on the far side of the fire. Ashley began cooking a marshmallow. Seto watched her. Rachel sat to Ashleys right side typing away furiously on both laptops. Wait, both?! Ashley was momentarily distracted and that was all it took for her marshmallow to catch on fire. That brought her attention back and she started waving it around and right into Setos nice black trenchcoat. He looked at her skepticaly as she started to laugh. He laughed a little to then stood up.

"I must be going, I have a new product to launch on Monday. And I need to do a final check for flaws. Which reminds me, will you come with me to the launching banquet on Friday?"

"Um, ok, yeah, I'd love to."

"Excellent, I shall see you when you get back from your camping trip. He got into his helicopter and took off.


	4. Chapter 4

Once Upon A Hack

Chapter 4

By Castianna

The rest of the weekend passed in a flash... How about I flash through it.

Ok, After Seto left, Ashley, Rachel, Ashleys brother and her brothers friend all played capture the flag. Of course the girls had decided that drinking vodka coolers was a good idea... three coolers later they were rather tipsy and in no condition to be playing a game that demanded eye-hand co-odination. Ashleys brother snuck up from behind and stole the girls flag, Ashley gave chase and managed to fall in a gopher hole. It went something like this...

"Fuck Rachel he got the...AHHHH SHIT I FELL IN A FRICKEN GOPHER HOLE!!"

(what... i thought i needed a funny gopher story... Damn gophers...)

The next day Rachel and Ashley sat out in the sun, Rachel was re-prgraming the laptops with newer hacking related programs and Ashley was writting a funny story for her FanFic account... Of course when sitting out in the sun for hours one tends to turn a slight shade of red... Yes they were sun burnt and grumpy for the remainder of the weekend.

The night after they came back from camping the girls decided to head to smittys for dinner, Not even five minutes after they sat down they were joined at their table by none other than Bakura and his friend... The boys pushed the girls over and sat down without even an invitation. Bakura wrapped his arm around Raes shoulders and smirked. "Miss me?" He asked her.

Rachel blushed. Her and Ashley had just been discussing her little crush on a certian theif, and she was dead certian he had overheard it.

Ashley looked over at the man sitting beside her and her face went white. "Not you again!" She sneered in what she hoped was a Kaiba-like fashion.

Malik smiled.

"The names Malik." He said as if the whole attempted kidnaping incident hadnt happened.

"So... Any chance your plotting my next kidnapping because if you are...I must warn you--"

Malik leaned over and captured Ashleys lips effectively stopping what ever it was she was about to say... The kiss was forceful yet he didnt hurt her, Ashley reached up to push him away from her but her traitorous hands pulled him closer instead. Finally Malik pulled away to catch his breath. Ashley looked away trying to hide her blush.

Malik reached out and lifted her chin, getting her to look at him.

"Dont be ashamed about what just happened, Its called attraction...and it seems you like me as much as I like you." He smirked. Ashley blushed deeper and then she realised that they had an audience, a smirking Bakura and a very confused Rachel.

Ashley got up out of the booth and jumped over Malik and dashed for the door. Rachel moved to follow but both guys stopped her...

"She needs to think on what happened alone..." Malik said.

Ashley had just made it to the door when she bumped into a solid wall. She looked up and into beautiful blue eyes. Immediatly she looked away, afraid that he had seen and would hate her... Seto looked over Ashleys head towards the table she had come from. Malik locked eyes with him and smirked. His look was confuseing hadnt Ashley ran away from that kiss...Why did he look as if he had won... He'd have to ask Ashley about it. He walked Ashley outside and over to his limo...

Did he see what happened? was the question raceing through Ashleys mind. He was acting as if he hadnt.

"Whats the matter?" He asked.

"Nothing..."

"Are you sure, you were in a hurry to get out of there..."

Good, he hadnt seen...

"Umm I just needed fresh air... i felt feint..."

"I see... Why do you feel you need to lie to me?"

Oh god, he had seen...

"Im not lieing..." She looked at him... "I honestly wasnt feeling well."

Why is she lieing... That creep probably forced himself on her... why is she protecting him...

"Can I give you a ride home?" He asked.

"No, Rae and I will be fine."

And at that moment Rachel came out of the restaurant. "The boys are paying the check..." She stopped when she noticed who Ashley was with.

"So thats how it is then?" Seto said and he turned and got into his limo and then drove off.

He couldnt believe that she was this two faced... He had come to take her back, forgive her for leaveing him. And here she was with another man. The man whom she had just met a few days ago, and worse, the man who tried to kidnap her.

Ashley stared after him not knowing what to say, but knowing that this had probably hurt him... Rae looked confused... "Did i just say something wrong?"

"Nevermind... let him think what he wants to think... because i dont know what to think..." Ashley said miserably...

"Oh my god... He saw the kiss didnt he... and now what i said made it look like you were on a date with malik... the kidnapper... Oh god.." Rae looked really upset.

"Dont sweat it... I should have explained when he gave me the chance to, but instead I lied... Besides If i had gone back to him it would be the same as last time... he would always be working...Im better off not going down that road again."

For all her talk she didnt look like she was over it... she looked really depressed. But Rae didnt say anything. The guys came out of smittys and they all started walking.

Bakura piped up. "The night is still young... anyone up for a movie??"

Malik looked at Ashley, Who had been silent since the kiss. "How bout it? Wanna catch a movie babe?"

"Dont call me babe." Ashley said, and then she sighed, she couldnt blame him for everything, it was partially her fault too. She looked back at him and smiled slightly. "Sure, lets see a movie... You guys pick, I'll watch whatever."

Rachel smiled, glad that her friend wasnt going to sulk all night. It looked as if she was going to give Malik a chance. That guy must be infatuated with her if he wanted to kidnap her... Rae had a private laugh at the thought.

Ashley looked at her friend... Why was she laughing? Oh well, she shrugged it off... Rae was prone to weird moments sometimes... Then she giggled slightly. But then again so was she.


	5. Chapter 5

Once Upon A Hack

Chapter 5

By Castianna

The next day the girls went to the mall. Soon they bumped into Yugi and the gang. Rachel and Yugi started going over duel monster strategies and Ashley and Mai talked about the pros and cons of a Harpie Strong deck. The all went to the food court to grab some lunch. Grabbing two tables close to each other they moved them together.

After a while they moved off towards the Arcade. "Oh the new DDR game is out!" Ashley said. She tuned to the group, "Who wants to try it out with me?"

"I guess I could.." Tea said.

The group went into the arcade and exchanged some money for tokens. Soon they were crowded around the new DDR game watching Ashley and Tea face off.

A few hours and several arcade games later the group left the mall and headed for the bus stop. "Well, we leave for domino tomarrow. Its been good hanging out with you guys...You should come visit sometime." Yugi said.

"We'd love to... Maybe we should come out for the next tournament." Ashley said.

"That would be great, From what I have seen of your two decks, you would both make strong competitors." Yugi said sincerly.

Rae blushed and Ashley laughed. "I dont think I could hold my own against you Yugi, After all you beat Seto... I mean Kaiba and well... everything I know about the game I learned from him." Ashley looked sad at that for a moment then the sadness cleared from her face and she was smileing again.

They all said their goodbyes, The gang headed back to the hotel they were staying at and the girls went the opposite way to wait for their bus. They were half way across the parking lot when they ran into Seto and Mokuba. Ashley was going to try and avoid them but Mokie saw her and rushed her.

"Ashley, Its been so long!" He said as he grabbed her around the waist and hugged her.

"Hi Mokie, How have you been?" She asked.

"Just great!" He smiled, "Who's your friend?"

"This is Rae. She is that friend I told you about, My partner in crime." Ashley laughed. "In fact you and her would get along famously."

"Mokie lets go...We need to hurry." Seto said, barely spareing a glance at Ashley.

"But big brother, I want to visit with Ashley."

"We dont have the time, We must conclude our visit here then head to the hotel to prepare to leave tomarrow."

"Thats convienient Kaiba." Ashley said. "Headed back to Domino the same day as Yugi. Im begining to think that you followed him here... Your not over that little obsession after all."

"That is none of your business. I told you why I was here, If you chose not to believe that is your choice. But for now I dont have time to waste talking to the likes of you." He went to walk off but Rae stopped him.

"Now see here Kaiba. That was rude and uncalled for. You owe us an appology." She said.

"I dont owe you anything, least of all her." He said and walked off.

"He's right Rae. He doesnt owe me anything... after what happened last night." Ashley whispered and turned away.

Mokie looked back and waved to Ashley then followed his brother into he mall. Rachel looked confused but followed Ashley to the bus stop.

"Whats up?" Rae asked when they reached the bus stop.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Obviously you still feel for Mr Icecube, otherwise you wouldnt be so upset."

"Lets not talk about it...Im going to give Malik a chance...Im through with Kaiba. The only reason he came to Calgary was to follow Yugi here... Mai told me how they ran into kaiba and he demanded a rematch. He thought he could fool me into thinking he came for me... but im smarter than that. Also... That system he launched... Thats in Domino... so he actually had no business here... Now, from this moment forward we are not discussing Mr kaiba. Deal?"

"Yup. I didnt like him anyways." Rae said.

"Ok, now lets go rent a movie and get our minds off everything." Ashley said.

"Ok. Sounds good. How bout we skip renting a video and watch your starwars saga instead." Rae suggested.

"Hmmm that idea has merit... Agreed." The laughed as the bus pulled up and the got on.


	6. Chapter 6

Once Upon A Hack

Chapter 6

By Casianna

One day, two and a half weeks after the domino gang had left Calgary, The girls were watching the news when a tournament was announced.

...'A duel monsters tournament will held in Domino Japan early next month. Yugi Mouto, The King of Games, Is expected to be in attendance as well as other big names in the dueling curcuit. Of course the pressance of the King of games is bound to bring an appearance of none other than Seto Kaiba, former champion. This tournament should turn out to be a battle of duel monsters finest.'...

The tv droned on with some more unimportant details about other top duelests expected to attend but the girls had already ran to find their parents, whom happened to be bbqing in the backyard, and get permission to attend their first tournament.

Three weeks later. The girls were hugging their parents good bye and getting ready to bored their plane to Domino. They had decieded not to tell Yugi or anyone else that they were comeing for the tournament and suprise them instead.

When the day of the tournament arrived the girls were nervous. They had pre-registered and recieved their duel disks. They had practiced against each other for the past three days and had worked out several different stratagies. They walked to where the duelists were to meet and began searching for Yugi and his friends. Soon they spotted them standing by a fountain. They rushed over, supriseing them.

"Hey guys!" Rae greeted.

"Hey! We are so glad you made it." Tristan said.

"When we didnt hear from you we thought that you couldnt make it..." Yugi said.

"Nah, we wouldnt miss this for the world." Ashley said with a smile.

They all sat near the fountain, chatting for several minutes waiting for the tournament to begin. They were all in the midst of a discussion on the previous large tournament when a large shadow moved over the group. They all looked up and saw a huge blimp floating above them...with Kaiba's face on it. Then the giant Kaiba face began talking...about HIS tournament...

"His tournament?" Ashley said. "Well forget that, Im outta here!" She said and turned to leave.

"Your just gonna leave because its his tournament?" Rae asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, why dont you stay and just beat him at his own tournament?" Rae suggested.

Ashley smirked, 'What a great idea!' she thought. She now stayed with a new goal. Beat Seto Kaiba at all costs.

((this next part is going to be a fast forward... Im not good at typing duels... and well im sure everyone reading this fic are for the most part aware of the events of Kaibas tournament, and who the 8 finalists were. The only thing im changing is the amount of finalists from 8 to 10, just to bring Ashley and Rae onto the blimp as well...))

Ashley easily dueled her way to the finals, as did Rae. Soon they were on the blimp and waiting for the finals to start. Ashley looked around at the five finalists on board. There was Yugi and Joey, Mai and 'Namu'... yes Ashley knew who Namu was, and had almost let it slip, but he had stopped her... What was he up to? She wondered. Apart from Those four, Rae and Ashley made six, so who were the other four?

Soon after that Bakura came aboard... then a woman named Isis, and a man named Odeon, after that malik made himself scarce. He and Bakura were acting strangely. They had seemed nicer in Calgary, but now they were twitchy... and odd.

The last finalist was Seto of course, Who would expect him to host a tournament and not make it to the finals. Apart from the finalists there were guests aboard as well. Kaiba had a full security regiment present, Then there was Serenity and Tristan, Loyal members of Yugi's fan club. And Tea as well.

Soon the blimp took off and the finals were underway. Ashley and Rae lost in the first round, Ashley lost to Seto and Rae lost to Yugi. As the finals progressed weird things began to happen... and Ashley was sure that Malik and Bakura were behind them. Or at least that is how it seemed. What were these shadow games that everyone kept talking about... then the girls found out... and they seemed to be the only ones who didnt know anything about them. Yugi and his friends tried filling them in. And the more they learned the more they decided that they should quit duel monsters.

Ashley was also haveing many doubts about Malik... or Marik and he had started calling himself... His entire style had changed and he seemed to have a split personality issue. Finally Marik and Yugi, whom the girls now knew had a second personality as well that was known as Yami, faced off. Marik kept calling him pharoh and that confused the girls even more. The duel came to an end and marik was vanquished... and Yami was victorious... Malik was free from his angery side... Talk about schizofrenia...

Ashley wasnt sure what to think about that one anymore... She was near to giving up on men completely...

Then it was time for the battle everyone was waiting for... Yugi verses Seto. After a long match Yugi emerged victorious defeating Kaiba in the end. It was close, as the duels always were between those two. Ashley breathed a sigh of relief that it was all over... she wasnt sure how friendship with this bunch was going to be after this point... after all they went through everything that happened at battle city as if it was another normal tournament, complete with evil villians... and supernatural phenomenon. If this was ordinary, Ashley would hate to see an unordinary day...

((like i said... not a full accounting of the events but im not much for typing duels. lol well tell me what you think...))


	7. Chapter 7

Once Upon A Hack

Chapter 7

After the chaos that was battle city Ashley and Rachel were considered members of the group. They now knew about Yami, Yugi's alter ego and Rachel was intrigued by this Egyptian Pharoh.

The girls were convinced to extend their visit for a few more weeks. They would be staying in Yugi's spare room. It was getting close to midnight and the girls were sitting in their room chatting about what had happened at the tournament.

"That Bakura guy is rather twisted isnt he? At least we can semi understand him now..." Ashley said.

"Yeah and his accent is sooo hot!" Rae giggled and Ashley laughed.

"And what about poor Malik?" Ashley asked. "He has his own mental demons..." Her vision went far away as she thought about Malik.

Rachel took one look at Ashleys expression and smirked. "You like him dont you?"

Ashley looked at Rae, "Yeah, I do... He was sexy!!" She grinned. "Whats not to love about his eyes, His hair and that Sexy surfer body!!"

"Nah Bakura is way hotter!"

"Whatever!" Ashley stuck her tongue out at Rae then they both laughed.

They giggled and talked about boys in general along with other random things for another few hours then turned in for the night.

Across the city Seto Kaiba was going over his tapes from the tournament. Ashley had been beating him in their duel but then he seemed to gain it back...almost to fast. He was seraching for her flaw, but now he was beginning to to think that she threw away that match... but why?

Another Hour later and he found it, the turning point of the game. He zoomed in on her hand and studied it. She had all the cards to beat him yet she hadnt played them. She could have ended it in four moves yet she discarded them and played weak easily defeated monsters and her stratagy fell apart.

She had thrown away that duel... He felt like a fake. There was only one way to settle this. He would track her down and challange her to a rematch. And this time he'd make sue she didnt cheat. He'd win fairly this time!

He began searching his site waiting for the hack that always... *bing* ONE NEW MESSAGE flicked up on his screen. He opened the message.

-Well I did it. I managed to hack your system and place a virus that will activate in 24 hours if you do not find it. When you find it send an email to this address and I will send you the anti-virus to save your precious mainframe from Fuzzy Bunny Madness!!! And the game begins now!

~Rae (thats right, you need to make this harder..)-

A timer started ticking away at the bottom of his screen.

Seto could almost scream in frustration! He didnt have time for games!!! Then it clicked, if he found Rae, He'd find Ashley. They seemed to go everywhere together...

He quickly traced the virus, scanning though pages of base code until he found a line that he didnt recognise. He sent the reply with the proof of the virus then waited. He traced the reply address and came up with an IP address. From there it was a peice of cake to get a street address. There were benifits to haveing billions of dollars and complete (although mostly illegal) access to all the computer mainframes in Japan.

It was a Domino City address. More accurately Yugi Mouto's Address. He sat back in his chair and contemplated his next move almost reminisant of a super villian in a cheesy uper hero movie.


End file.
